Sorting-plates.



No. 676,034. Patented lune ll, I90l. S. ELLIOTT.

SORTING PLATES.

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SORTING PLATES.

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Wilnuow u a; 44 d No. 676,034. Patented lune II, l90l. S. ELLIOTT.

SORTING PLATES.

(Application filed July 7, 1897. Renewed Nov. 12, 1900.) (No Model.)

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No. 676,034. Patented lune ll, l90l- 8. ELLIOTT. I

SORTING PLATES.

(Applimiou filed July '7, 1897. Renewed Nov. 19, 1900.) (No Model.) 4Shaots-$heet 4.

JOHN SMIITH SIN/IIIITIHIVILLE MASS JE JHN SMIITIH] SMIITIHIVIILILE MASSJCQHN SMIITIHI S-MIITHIVII LIL. E

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STERLING ELLIOTT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ELLIOTTCOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SORTlNG-PLATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 676,034, dated June 11, 1901. Application filed July 7, 1897. Renewed November 12, 1900.Serial No. 36,294. (No model.)

To all whom it Ina/3,1 concern:

Be it known that I, STERLING ELLIOTT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sorting-Plates, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to sets of cards, plates, or articles which areintended for repeated use-as, for instance, plates for printing thenames and addresses of subscribers for newspapers or periodicals, butsome of which are used foragreaternumberoftimesthan others; and myinvention consists in providing the different plates of the set,including all for any given purpose, with regular successions of bearingor contact points terminating at different points upon the differentplates, according to the number of times the plates are to be used, saidbearing or contact points being situated so as to cooperate with amovable controller upon the moving part of a machine, whereby certain ofthe plates, according to the predetermined arrangement of the contactingpoints or parts, may be separated from the others, as fully set forthhereinafter and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of an apparatus foraddressing newspaplates embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a transversesection on the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan. Fig. 4 is atransverse sectional elevation on the line 4 4, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a partsectional edge view of the lever device shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 isaperspective view illustrating a modified form of apparatus, and Figs. 7to 11 illustrate different forms and arrangements of printing cards orplates.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown it inconnection with an apparatus for printing addresses upon newspapers inconnection with a series of stencils or stencil-cards A, each of whichhas series of perforations so arranged as to outline the name andaddress of one of the subscribers. The stencils may be designated by thegeneral term plates, as they may be of different kinds, but each seriesof which constitutes practically a set, some of which are to continue inuse for a longer time than others. These stencils, one for eachsubscriber, are placed one above the other in a holder B, arranged abovea table or platform D and above a channel 00 in said platform, in whichchannel reciprocates a pusher E, which may be carried back to theposition shown in Fig.1 at the rear of the lowermost stencil of the pileand which when moved in the direction of its arrow, Fig. 1, pushes thesaid lower most stencil A along the channel w to a position oppositeanother channel y at right angles to the channel 00 and directly below areciprocating head J. This head has a projection 5, around which extendsa saturated strip 6, supplied with a suitable liquid ink, which can passunder pressure through the perforations in the stencil-plate to thesurface of the wrapper of a newspaper X, supported below thestencil-plate upon a bed F, which may be raised and lowered by means ofa pedal G.

Under the normal action of the parts described the pusher E will firstpush the lower stencil-plate from below the pile to a position below thehead J. The operator places anewspaper X upon the bed F and then liftsthe latter by means of the pedal to press the newspaper against theunder side of the stencilplate. The head J descends and presses thesaturated strip 6 against the upper part of the stencil-plate, causingthe ink to pass through the perforations and onto the wrapper of thenewspaper. Meanwhile the pusher E has moved back to the position shownin Fig. 1. The operator then releases the treadle, takes off the paperaddressed, and inserts another in its place, the head J rising and thepusher E moving forward and pushing another stencil into place, thecontact of the second stencil with the first causing the latter to bedischarged from the recess 8 at the right, Fig. 1, onto an inclinedplate 7 and thence into any suitable receptacle. (Not shown.) As thesecond stencil takes its position the operator presses the pedal, liftsthe second paper into position, and the head J descends and the secondname and address is printed.

It is of course desirable that the above-described operations, inconnection with the mechanism described or with any suitable mechanismthat will properly shift the addressing-plates and bring themsuccessively into position to print addresses upon successive papers orother matter, shall continue so long as the successive stencils containthe names of those whose terms of subscription have not expired. It isalso desirable to throw out of operation or discard or separate from theremaining stencils those containing the names of subscribers whosesubscriptions have expired or will expire upon the receipt of the paperor other matter being printed. To this end each of the stencils isprovided with a bearing or series of bearings or cont acts, (all ofwhich I include under the term bearings,) the arrangement of which uponthe stencil varies according to the length of the term for which thesubscription is given or the number of times the plate must be usedbefore being automatically separated from the active plates or thosewhich must continue in use, and these hearings so cooperate with a pinor its equivalent (which I term a sorter) upon the machine that thelatter will operate to mechanically discharge or separate from theothers any stencil after the printing from the latter of the last numberof the publication covered by the subscription.

In the apparatus illustrated the head J carries a sorter-pin K, whichmay be arranged progressively in different positions upon the head orsuccessively at different points thereon, the position being changed oradvanced at each issue of the publication or at each passage of the massof plates through the apparatus-that is, there being a succession ofopenings y to 3 in the head J (when the publication is a monthlypublication) the pin is arranged first in the opening y and its positionis successively advanced upon the printing of each monthly edition. If,however, no subscriptions are taken for less than acertain time-sayeight weeksthe pin need not of necessity be put in place until twomonthly editions have been printed.

Assuming that the bearing or coacting feature of the stencils consistsof imperforate or solid parts or spaces, there is actually ortheoretically upon each stencil twelve points coinciding with the twelveopenings y of the head J, and an opening it is made in each stencil atsuch a point as will coincide with the position which the sorter-pin Kwill occupy with the issue of the number with which the subscriptionexpires. Thus assuming that the subscription of John Smith, ofSmithville, Mass, expires with the sixth issue of the publication afterthe subscription is received the stencil A, containing the subscribersname, embodies five bearing-points which on successive passages contactwith the sorting-pin and is punched at the sixth point upon the stencil,and the pin K will coincide with this point after the sixth adjustmentof the said pin.

In the construction shown the pin slides freely in each opening, but isheld in any position to which it is adjusted by the contact of a spring15, and when the head J risesthe upper end of the pin strikes the flangeof a contact-piece L upon the frame of the machine, so that the headcontinues to rise While the pin is held stationary. \Vhen the headdescends, if the end of the pin makes contact with the face of thestencil the movement of the pin is arrested While the head continues itsdescent, and this will be the case upon each reciprocation of the headuntil the pin in its descent, instead of meeting a bearing on the faceof the stencil, is brought toward a stencil having an opening in linewith the pin, in which case the latter will pass through the opening andmeet and bear upon a contact-piece L, completing an electric circuit,which causes, through suitable mechanism, a second pusher E to moveforward as the head rises and push the opposite stencil A into thechannel y and when the next stencil is pushed into the channel y thefirst is discharged from the said channel into a suitable receptacle.(Not shown).

In the apparatus illustrated the pusher E is connected with anoperating-lever M, which moves outward under the influence of a spring17 and inward under the action of a cam or toe 18 on a rotating shaft19, the said cam bearing upon a wing 20, pivoted to one side of thelever M and having an opening 22, adapted to receive a bolt 23, carriedby the lever M. As shown, the bolt 23 is the core of a solenoid N andnormally is held out of the opening 22 by the action of a spring 25; butwhen the circuit is completed by the contact of the pin K andcontact-piece L the coil is excited and the core 23 is thrown outwardand into the opening 22, looking the wing 20 to the lever M. So long asthe wing is not locked to the lever it will swing freely under theaction of the cam 18; but when it is locked to the said lever the wingand the lever together will be swung by the action of the cam, and thepusher E will operate to push the opposite stencil into the channel y.

In the apparatus shown the shaft 19 drives a shaft 26 throughbevel-gears 27, and a cam 28 on the shaft 26 swings an operating-lever Min a direction to carry the pusher E inward, while a spring 30 carriesthe parts in the opposite direction.

I wish it to be understood that in describing the above apparatus I havedone so only to illustrate the application of my invention and do nothere claim the same, nor do I claim an apparatus embodying the generalfeatures specified, as this is the subject of a separate application,Serial No. 2,050, of 1900. I have referred to stencils andstenoil-plates; but instead of these there may be printing-plates --as,for instance, thin metal lic plates provided with rubber type 8, (seeFig .7 )--any necessary changes being made in the printing-machinerequired by the change in the character of the printing-plates. Further,instead of bearing-points followed by openings permitting the passage ofthe pin when the printing-plate is to be discarded there may be openingspermitting said passage, so long as plates are to be retained followedby bearings, so that the shifting of the pin by final contact with thebearing of the plate causes the discharge of the latter, or a metallicstrip or piece may be cemented to the printing-plate in proper positionto make contact with the pin at proper times and complete a circuit.Further, the plate mayhave pins at the edge, Fig. 9, or openings at theedge, as shown in Fig. 10, for the reception of pins placed in properposition to make contact with cooperating devices, or there may bemovable type -blocks, one, 15, longer than the other, Fig. 11. Any ofthese may serve to vary the action of the shifters to throw out certainof the plates, and the said cooperating devices instead of beingelectrical may be mechanical. Instead of one pin K two or more may beused.

It will be evident that my improvement may be used not only inconnection with a set of printing-plates or cards of any characterwhenever it is necessary that the different cards or plates of the setshall be repeatedly used; but some for a greater number of times thanothers.

While I have shown the pin K or controller as adjustable in respect tothe indicators upon the plates, the said pin may occupy a stationaryposition upon the head J or other moving part, and the plates may be socarried as to progressively occupy different positions.

Without limiting myself to any special character of plate, I claim 1. Aset of plates for automatic sorting consisting of a plurality of platesprovided with ,bearing or contact points arranged in regular successionand terminating in different positions upon different plates of the set,to coact with an automatic sorting device to vary the action of thelatter in connection with the plates after the number of operations ofthe plates in connection with the sorting device determined by thearrangementof said bearing-points,substantially as set forth. 2. A setof sorting-plates for repeated use consisting of a plurality of platesprovided with means for actuating a sorting device, arranged in regularsuccession throughout the set according to the number of times thedifferent plates are to be used, to vary the number of operations inconnection with the sorting device according to the disposition of theactuating means on the plates, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

STERLING ELLIOTT.

Witnesses:

FRANK J. HOWELL, M. R. MAGUIRE.

